Stella Maris
by Lipush
Summary: A 'New Moon' and 'Eclipse' AU. The Cullens left bella, while Victoria still hangs in the shadows; but a chilling twist of fate allows the vengeful vampire to gain the upper hand in a way no one saw coming- Victoria will take Edward's most precious asset as a vessel in her newborn army, only to use it against him.
1. Chapter 1

**"Nothing inspires forgiveness quite like revenge."**

* * *

PREFACE:

In that moment, the heat of battle is nothing but a distracting fog surrounding them both. Brown chocolate eyes gaze into golden topaz ones, the expression written on them is one of pure hatred and distain.

Edward Anthony Cullen pounces forward like the skilled predator he is, and the enemy falling beneath his marble body is no match to him now. Injured, weak, nearly defeated.

Edward's golden eyes stare into hers as she lies helpless on the ground, the raging fight between his family and this army of newborn vampires almost forgotten.

Her deep brown hair spreads on the cold earth like a blanket of satin, her pale skin bruised and reddish, and her eyes challenge her nemesis so rudely, to take the last step, to end this all.

And with all her hatred, her heartbeat strong, rebellious and steady, Edward finds it almost impossible to do as she dares him to.

A fresh and warm wave of love and endless affection fills him again, and he struggles to just hang in there. How did it come to this? This precious and pure soul of his own private angel, the one he'll give his entire world to, glares at him with such loath?

Is this what they mean, when they say to 'Love your Enemy'? Is loving the enemy supposed to make it easier? Because for him, nothing is more difficult than what he knows he must do now.

They left her behind, and it's only natural that she'll seek revenge. They all had it coming.

His cold hand finds itself enveloping her neck, it's trembling, unsure around the victim.

Her expression is one of acceptance. Furthermore, it's daring, inviting, mocking; "Do it," she whispers, her lips twitch in disgust and wrath, "Are you that weak, Edward Cullen?" she spits, and he fights the urge to cringe and wail in pain, "Do it!"

The sound of a still continuous battle is heard, but Edward is almost numb. His eyes close tightly with an inner struggle, and he whispers, "I can't…" his voice feeble as he adds softly, "I love you."

Her anger surfaces again, as it is not what she expects to hear, "Love me?" she cracks furiously, her eyes sparkle with ire, "You know nothing of love," her voice hoarse, accusing, "You don't abandon the ones you love," and then she shakes her head, "You left me here, all by myself," her eyes narrow, "You took my life, my entire existence, and turned it into a living nightmare. I hardly succeeded muddling through each day, and all I could think about was of how much I hate you!" she commends him again, "Do it!"

Ever since that day in the meadow, the day her life ended, she prepared herself for this moment. His abandonment is not an issue anymore, for all that she searched for those long days was this… just look into his eyes, and tell him how much she despises him.

This moment is everything she hoped for, and more.

And now, it's her time to die.

She wants him to do it, though. Not Carlisle, not any of his siblings or allies. She wants him to do it, because she knows her death under his hands will haunt him for the rest of his existence.

That will be her only revenge, as she knows she cannot possibly match his strength or speed.

As his eyes refuse to leave hers, he knows what he must do, his arm rise to take the final strike, the ones that will probably end all this.

She closes her eyes gently, almost smiling, "So the lion fell in love with the lamb…" a tiny whisper washes through the wind, "and it has outgrown him and defeated his kingdom…"


	2. Chapter 2

**A/N****- needless to say, I don't own twilight. I own nothing.**

**Please read an review. More to come soon.**

* * *

**Chapter 1**

* * *

**"She didn't know her name…"**

* * *

The first sight she remembers is pure deep dark pupils, and the tiny sparkle glistering in them.

Warm arms embracing, holding, caressing. Refusing to let go.

She remembers her mother. Remembers the pain that it was, her tiny body being forced out of the womb with a painful impulse, into a world full of cruelty and torment.

Her mother's loving face is fresh in her memory, the constant sadness in her eyes; she and her mother lived alone, in a small house in the woods, not far from a small cloudy town known as 'Forks'.

She can still remember her mother's comforting arms, the tiny half smile she kept for her alone, the hidden one, which never reached her eyes. Her mother smelled of strawberries and flowers and the fresh wind of comforting rain cleaning the muddy earth from pain and sorrow.

She never got to know her father, or even see him. He left them; mama said once, left months ago, never looked back or tried to reach them again.

Mother told her about him. He was a vampire, belonged to the Olympic coven, and his name was Edward. Was, for he's a thing of the past.

Much family they didn't have, she recalls a hesitating, concerned face, of a man who once was her grandfather, a young man she should know, but his face long ago faded…but mostly, it was just them. Her, and her mother.

The lack of a father figure didn't influence her childhood much. She had a father figure, his name was Father Jonah. The small town's only pastor. Her mother used to go to church every once in a while, after her father turned his back on her, and she was left pregnant and alone. She went there to cry freely, and that's when the pastor found her, and encouraged her to find a reason to live, with all the pain.

She was baptized by the same kind pastor months later, and he was the one to give her mother this one present, of much meaning. A small golden pendant of Virgin Mary, her arms held in prayer, behind her the sea waves.

This medallion was her one and only property. She didn't have many toys, or books, as it was a thing luxury her mother could not afford. She never asked for anything as a child. As a toddler, the clothes on her body and the precious jewelry were everything she needed and wanted, besides her mother's unconditional love.

She used to call her 'my little nudger', something which made her laugh and find further comfort in her mother's grip.

She'd read her stories and warm her up at night. She never asked how she got her the meals of blood once her thirst became an issue. She was a very unpredictable hybrid, but her mother never let her down, and made sure her every need is answered properly.

Unlike the one vampire who turned his back on them both.

When asking about her male creator, her mother would not share much, the look in her eyes will again turn painful and sad, and she'll learn to stay silent. When concerning her father, and…pretty much in general.

She'll take her to the open meadow, hold her in her arms and sing to her, every spring, or every time it didn't snow or rain; it was her favorite activity. Simply be with her mother, run along the meadow, jump and play with the butterflies, while her mother will watch over her, her eyes full of laughter.

It was one of those sunny days, when they came. Their velvet dark robes sticking to their skins like dark curtains, their cloaks flapping behind them like bats' wings, their faces pale, empty, sealed, with no emotion.

They asked the mother how she knew about them, and who was the small girl with her; obviously believing her to be a creature called an "Immortal Child." As an immortal child, she's a liability, and must be destroyed. Her mother tried to explain her case, a vampire from the Olympic Coven, one of the Cullens, is the father of her child. She was born this way, not bitten.

The obvious question, where is the proof, where is the Child's father to speak in her defense, was left unanswered. She was fatherless, and her mother- without her mate.

Either them thinking she lied, or simply too weak of a human to stay her grounds, the Volturi didn't care. The small girl can still remember Aro's swiping arm, hitting her mother once, and her body went still. 'Such a pity,' he told his brother Marcus, 'A rare human, no doubt. But how could we know she's of no danger? Without her mate to speak for her, she's too much of a risk.'

And that's when she first realized how cruel her father really was. Not only he left her mother alone, but now he cursed her for life, wondering in the world, an orphan with no guidance.

If he would have stayed, she'd still have her beloved mother with her. If he would have stayed, none of this would have happened.

They found her minutes after her mother took her last breath. She remembers tasting her own blood, injured, beaten, being left to die in that meadow.

Her heart filled with sadness for her mother, indescribable anger towards her father, and incredible frustration due to the situation she was forced into. Such a wave of mixed emotion was leaving to much of a weight on her small innocent body, the injuries and hits and shock making her world crumble, as words got stuck in her mouth and she blinked slowly.

She became a shell, that afternoon. A reflection of what once used to be a child, a smoke in the wind, a cracked glass with no depth.

It may have been an eternity, or a matter of few hours, before a presence was felt at the meadow. A group of vampires, young ones, which arrived there. They were about a dozen, no more, and their faces curious and fresh with strength and stability.

She noticed her there, lying on the ground, breathing heavily, barely moving. The group's leader, a female with blazing red hair and a large furry coat, stood above her, threateningly. She was curious as the rest of them, and obviously was the one in command.

The girl knew the vampiress could smell her blood and beating heart, but she probably wouldn't have mistaken her for mere human. And she was more than right.

"Who are you, girl?" The female vampire ordered her to answer.

She didn't know, she could hardly remember through her beatings and pain and torment. Who was she, anyway? A vampire? A human? A half-breed? Maybe that thing Aro saw her as?

'A… _mestee__," _she answered feebly, brokenly; she remembered the word somehow, the word describing her as half-and-a-half. Something that doesn't belong anywhere to begin with

The young male vampire standing next to his leader blinked at her curiously. "But you have _a name_, child, don't you?" The vampiress insisted.

Did she?

She assumed she had one, only she couldn't, for the life of hers, remember what it was… What a strange thing that is, a creature with no name?... Trying to remember how her mother used to call her offered nothing but extreme pain, a horrible headache…but no name.

Nothing.

The young male standing next to her bend down to the little girl's laying form, and ripped the medallion off of her neck with a painful tug. Examining the necklace and the medallion, he handed it to his leader. "Virgin Mary", she mocked amusingly, "The star of the sea."

When reading the sentence sticking to the medallion, it was then when the little girl learned her name. Or was it how she wished to call herself then, to find some sort of identity.

"My name…" she whispered. "That's me… star of the sea…" and to answer the vampires' quizzical gazes, she answered, "I'm the star of the sea… I'm Stella Maris."

What happens after is a blur. Whereas it was the newborn Riley, or Victoria herself, that picked her up from the ground that afternoon, that's the part she's not clear on.

She does remember her injuries being taken care of. Her thirst being answered with satiating human blood, a kind of blood she never tasted before.

It was then, when being safely held within the arms of her saviors, unknown vampires with graceful compassion, that she felt this familiar anger again. Her own father, Edward Callen, left her mother to die in her place, and herself, do starve in the middle of this God-forsaken field. Her own father was so cruel, that he left her to the mercy of complete strangers.

Fury and hate were to fill her, along with the pain and the mourning, and on that day, she vowed in her heart…

She will find the Olympic coven. She will get a hold of her father.

And then she'll throw him to hellfire, where he belongs.


End file.
